Friday, January 18, 2008

Place Doth Matter..., Still

This is an excellent piece by John Hagel. Since many of the recent discussions and posts have revolved around the notion of space/place, I thought this was apropos. Hagel observes:

'Place still matters in shaping talent development and competition. Place matters because density matters. Density increases opportunities for serendipitous encounters and sustained and rich collaboration. Place not only matters; it is becoming even more important and much more complex.

Depending on whether you zoom in or zoom out, relevant spikes emerge at the neighborhood, metropolitan or global level. In fact, they are fractal, down to the level of corridors and work areas within specific buildings. Some companies have developed explicit location strategies, seeking to locate facilities in key spikes in an effort to attract local talent. Far fewer companies have successfully tackled the challenges of effectively connecting talent across geographic spikes in ways that accelerate learning and talent development. Technology tools can help support these efforts, but the real opportunity is to define new environments that foster productive friction on a global scale. In a flat world, where you stand really does matter.'Read full piece here.graph per edgeperspectives

5 comments:

Eric
said...

"In a flat world, where you stand really does matter." Yes, I agree.... While technology does help much and wireless connections do enable us well, it comes down to that fundamental vis-a-vis connection that the creatives need to have. Whom you bump to at the local market or coffeeshop does matter!!Thanks.

Yes, because it does not matter how much time we spend communicating with our respective virtual relationships, there is no substitute for live interaction. This is what makes the 21-century so exciting to me: the possibility to 'marry' the virtual to the real.